with a daily commute of 80 miles RT on the 405 freeway during rush hour, my mileage has averaged around 27 MPG, and generally, has hovered around 27 MPG with mixed driving.

I filled up with Chevron 87 octane until 50K miles, but since 50K, I've filled up with Mobil 87 octane to see if there's any difference in fuel mixture.

in all honesty, since the switch, I've been getting better gas mileage...around 28.5 MPG to be exact.

I believe that your location has to be stated, since different fuel mixtures are provided for different geographic locations, i.e., the fuel in Socal is more oxygenated than say, the fuel in Arizona. We should also consider emissions regulations...

so, as a caveat to all posters/readers, keep in mind that YMMV (your mileage may vary).

Just purchased this well-maintained Maz (112,000 miles) and kept records for first few thousand miles on gas and oil. Here's what it is so far: Averaging around 27, have gone to 26 with mostly city driving and over 29 with mostly freeway commuting. The dohc is peppy and I think that if I played "sports car" and did a lot of accelerating the mileage would decrease but I guess that would be true of any car. Oil consumption has been nil, maybe half a quart for 1,500 miles.

I drive my 2002 Mazda Protege 5 (with standard 2.0 liter DOHC and 5 speed manual transmission) about 37 miles per day during my commute in Northern Delaware. The drive is about 65% highway/35% city driving. My driving habits are variable, depending upon my mood, or who is in the car with me--but I mostly drive for a mix of fuel economy and fun. If I'm driving for fuel economy, I shift around 2.5k to 3k rpm. If I'm driving sportily, I'll shift at about 4.5k rpm (at the torque limit). I almost never drive the engine beyond 5k except in rare acceleration stunts. I try to stick to using BP (Amoco) 87 octane, but I occasionally have to fill up at a convenience store. Anyway, I recently calculated my mileage over a 3000 mile time period, and was dissapointed to find that I am averaging only 27.7 miles per gallon.

Yes, I keep the tires properly inflated, filters clean, and all the other stuff one should be doing to maintain high fuel economy. I think, though, in the end, a 2.0 liter engine is a moderately large 4 cylinder, and you're gonna have to keep the rpms as low as possible to break the 30 mpg barrier. One thing that continuously annoys me about the transmission is that highway speeds are maintained only with high rpms. 60mph equals nearly exactly 3k rpm in my car. That's just too high--and too loud! I wish the overdrive gear was reconfigured for a lower engine speed at that rate. Anyway, I usually drive about 70mph on the highway, so the rpms are even higher.

I bought the manual tranny to save money on gas--I never thought that it'd have the opposite effect. You see, it's so much fun to drive the pro5 that I find myself driving hard when I shouldn't be.

My brother's 02 civic EX gets 40 mpg--but I think the driving pleasure attained behind the wheel of my Pro5 is the edge that keeps me addicted to this car--regardless of the poor fuel economy.

... I recently calculated my mileage over a 3000 mile time period, and was dissapointed to find that I am averaging only 27.7 miles per gallon.

What mpg were you expecting? Several years back, Consumer Reports estimated the average for an automatic at 25mpg so I would imagine a 10% improvement for the manual would be about right. Considering the spirited driving you're doing 28 mpg is pretty good.

Regarding the comparison to the Honda Civic, doesn't it have a smaller motor and deliver lower hp? Wouldn't that partially explain better fuel economy?

Other than driving at high speeds on the freeway, she usually tries to keep the engine speed low.

On my '99 LX (1.6L engine, AT), I average 31.5mpg. It gets lower with cold temps, so I'm getting about 26-27mpg now. If I drive a in a more spirited fashion, I can get my economy down to 24-25mpg when I normally get 31-32mpg.

2003 Protege DX. My mileage around town short trips has been from 21 to 24 mpg. Only made two interstate trips of real distance (2000 miles round trip). Got from 25 to 27 on each tank full. I have the automatic for which I was thankful during a hour long traffic jam in Atlanta.

I've just done two tanks on my 2002 with 35k miles. I drive mostly city, no stop and go just stoplight commuting (4.2 miles) and I've been averaging 27mpg and change. Thats about 2.5 weeks or so with 90% low speed (45mph or lower) and the other 10% is highspeed (65mph plus) highway running. That's running Mobile1 (which I highly recomend, makes the engine quieter) no AC to speak of.

One thing I have noticed is that if you keep you heater set to any of the defrost settings or the heater setting it runs the AC at a low level. if you set it to vent or vent/heater it doesn't. I think it's for reducing moisture. Either way I find it annoying. You can tell by listening to the engine fan. If your sitting at a stop lighjt with the windows open and your engine fan comes on with it in defrost, the moment you switch to vent the fan quits. Odd that, seemed to help my MPG a little bit.

My 95 protege S 1.8L sohc auto with only 90,000 Km(55,000Miles) gets about 25 mpg Highway. This car had been meticulessly maintained by the previous owner, my father-in-law (ex navy) who is real picky about the condition of his cars. About 2 months ago the timing belt and all the hoses and external belts where replaced. The car starts, runs, idles and drives like new. Any suggestions why the bad mileage? None of the idiot lights have gone off, ever!Thanks for your assistance, Howie.

Something about your RPM claim at highway speeds just doesn't sound right. My '99 Corolla 5 speed doesn't turn 3K RPM until I hit 80 MPH, and its engine is only a 1.8 liter. At the most the Protege manual should be turning more like 2,000 to about 2,300 RPMs at 60 MPH.

Interesting topic. Being from Norway and living in Canada (Toronto), the mpg measure means absolutely nothing to me (apart from getting the impression that anything above 30 isn't too bad!).

My '02 P5 A/T has 106,500 kms on the odometer, and I measure my fuel consumption religiously - almost as religiously as I check my tire pressure!

Normal consumption for me on a mix of hwy and city driving (about 60-70% city) with no use of AC would be around 8.5-9 litres per 100 km. This quickly jumps to around 11 litres mid-winter. Pure hwy driving has gotten me as low as 7 litres per 100 km. This summer I drove my dad's old beaten up '85 Corolla, and I had no problem getting 5 litres per 100 kms... Even though engine sizes are up, and cars are heavier, you'd think that car manufacturers could have put a little more effort into improving fuel consumption numbers. Here's to hoping the new clean diesels catch on real quick! A P5 with a 130 hp turbo-diesel - Yum!

I have a 2003 P5, manual transmission. Bought it new and has 30k miles now. My driving averages 50/50 city/hwy. On the hwy I average 70-80mph normally. Use regular oil and do regular 3k interval oil changes. Run A/C most of the year, being in Atlanta. I've checked my MPG on every tankful of gas since new. The surprising thing is that approx 95% of the time, my MPG has been 30MPG. I've only had a couple of occasions where it was 29 or 31. I guess I'm very consistent in my driving. I don't baby it, but I don't drive fast all the time either.

I have to say I've really enjoyed this car. Very fun to drive and I have not had one single problem with it (knock wood). Still on the original Dunlop tires. Tread looks ok still, but they've lost quite a bit of wet-weather traction, so will replace soon. One of the things I really like about the car is that the first time others ride in it, they think it will be very uncomfortable because it looks so small, but they are very surprised by the amount of room once they get in. And I LOVE to take them around curves at speeds they would never consider in their cars. They are always amazed (and maybe a little scared). :P Awesome car.

20 mpg,Canadian gallonp.s. government ratings for miles per gallon in Canada are calculated differently than those in the States because of the use in Canada of Imperial gallons. US EPA figures are lower than those in Canada.

I Not sure if this is the right forum to post this message. but I will post it anyways, I have a Mazda Protege '95 model and having problems, the timing belt is not good and now there is a bad queaking sound coming from the engine and the automatic transmission is not responding no matter what gear I put it in, right now the car is stalled. Does any one has an idea if there is any link between the timing belt and the working of the automatic transmission.Any reply is greatly appreciated.Thanks.

I have a 2001 ES 2.0L with ~45K miles. I have lived a maximum of 15 miles from work for the life of the car and lived less than 4 miles away for 3 years...so not too many work miles.I would estimate 50/50 city/Highway with the city being fast speeds 40-60+mph but with traffic lights for commute.

I average 20mpg with normal driving and 28-30mpg on the highway at ~80mph average&#151;I&#146;m in San Diego&#151;so that&#146;s just average speed around here.

I drive it very hard however and am already on my second set of replacement tires and just had all 4 brake pads and rotors replaced.I put on Yokohama AVS-ES 100&#146;s and love them except for the ~12K lifespan.

The 20mpg has been consistent since my first fill up and does not change noticeably with different gas brands or octane. I have kept mileage info on every fill up since purchasing the vehicle new.

I have a 2002 Protege5 with 77K miles. I drive my car nice and easy (55-60mph in the right lane) for my 35 mile round trip commute and I average 30 mpg. I was averaging around 26 at 65-70mph, but decided to slow down when gas hit $3/gallon.

Happiest day of my life is when the OEM Dunlops wore out at 37K miles - they had awful wet weather traction. Replaced with Firestone Fusion Z-rated tires. I uprated the rubber to 205/50/16 which was way cheaper than trying to find 195/50/16 tires. The wider tire and stickier rubber reduced my mileage by 10%, but I got all of that back by slowing down.

I have recently bought a 1992 Protege DX with the 1.8L SOHC and 5 speed manual. While the body is suffering from salt corrosion (Minnesota winters are bad), the engine at 112000 miles still gets me 32mpg combined (70% City/30% Hwy). I do cheat a little and coast downhill and maintain as much momentum as possible. I haven't had the opportunity to do much long highway driving with it, but 70mph is about 2750RPM on the pizza cutter sized 175-70R13 tires.

Kewl beans & congrats on your older Pro. My 92 EX is still hauling butt w/an average MPG of 28 city/34 hwy. She's got 140k on her and I still drive it like it's stolen on 195/60R14 tires. Keep good OCI's, good common sense maitenance on her & they'll run darn near forever..

For my last two tanks i tried too keep away from the high RPM's and i got almost 28mpg on the 80% city 20% hwy combination usually it is around 23 because i drive mine like a rental car. Anyways at 190200 miles it is still pulling hard